Technology Folk | Tech News for IT Professionals

Facebook beats the 'spam king'

Facebook won a $711 million judgegment against "spam king" Sanford Wallace for violating the Can-Spam Act, which bans "false and misleading" marketing emails. Facebook was awarded $711m in a judgement on Thursday against self-described 'spam king' Sanford Wallace. Judge Jeremy Fogel of the US District Court...

Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-358905.html

Intel seeks new 'microserver' standard

In September, Intel introduced its idea of tiny 'microservers'. Now the company wants to make the design into a standard others can use, too. In September, Intel introduced its idea of tiny 'microservers'. Now the company wants to make the design into a standard others can use, too. ...

Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-358909.html

iPhone Apps That Bloggers Need

Most bloggers are going to do the majority of their speedy writing in front of a computer. But occasionally there will be instances ? breaking-news scenarios ? where all we can rely on is our trusty phone to do our jobs.

Gadget Lab’s friends at WP Beginner, a WordPress enthusiast blog, has compiled a list of 10 must-have iPhone apps for bloggers: mobile software that could help bloggers while they’re on the run, or on an everyday basis in general. The list includes a blogging app, a Twitter client, note-taking utilities and others.

The WordPress app [iTunes] for iPhone is a good suggestion: It’s a slick app that works well with WordPress blogs in a friendly way. (Yes, Wired.com uses WordPress.) So long as you’re a decent typist with the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, posting one or two paragraphs of a breaking news story on the scene with the WrodPress app should be no sweat.

Another app mentioned is Evernote [iTunes] a popular cloud-based note-taking service ? one I’ve personally found very useful as a blogger who does his work on multiple gadgets. My contacts list, for example, is saved on Evernote, so I look up sources’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses on any computer or phone so long as I have an internet connection.

Twitterific [iTunes], a free Twitter client, also made it to the list, which makes sense: Twitter certainly helps bloggers stay plugged in to the news. However, we’re big fans of Tweetie 2, a Twitter app we think has a superior interface, so we’d suggest getting that instead. It just costs $3.

Visit WP Beginner for the full list of apps. What iPhone apps would you add to this list of must-haves for bloggers? Add your apps in the comments below. To give you some ideas, here are some more of Gadget Lab’s suggestions: News Feed, a $1 news content aggregator; and Scanner 911, a $1 police radio scanner for bloggers and journalists chasing down crime scoops.

See Also:

10 Most Awesome iPhone Apps of 2008

iPhone 3.0 Wish List: Accessory-Powered Apps We Want

22 iPhone Apps for Science Geeks

Apple Promotes All-Time Top iPhone Apps

Photo: johanl/Flickr

Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/1KpqNCu78qI/

Review: The Motorola Droid

droid_008

A few days ago we got Motrola’s Droid in the mail. The device is quite awesome. Beyond being offered on Verizon’s network (which consistently squelches AT&T in coverage and speed) the phone is forged from super-solid (and stylish) hardware. Plus it runs freaking Android 2.0 as its OS. From reviewer Priya Ganapati:

The Droid runs Android 2.0 (aka �clair) as its OS. It feels more refined than the first version of Android on T-Mobile’s G1 and it’s certainly better than the muddled interface on Motorola’s Cliq.

The Droid’s 5-megapixel camera has up to 4x digital zoom. It produces photos that aren’t too noisy and it does well even in low light, thanks to the built-in LED flash.

The most exciting feature of the phone, though, is the Google maps app — with built-in turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation. Replete with text-to-speech features, the maps are layered with traffic data and a satellite view. But here’s the best part. It’s free! Hear that? You don’t have to pay $10 a month as subscription or buy a pricey $100 TomTom app. You can just zip around with the Droid and Google Maps.

$200, motorola.com

8/10

You can, of course read the full review of the Mottorola Droid on our reviews website.

Photo by Jon Snyder for Wired.com

Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/BZFDPCYG1pk/

IT should be included in Copenhagen agreement, says UN agency

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 30 October 2009 at 15:50:00

Specific mention of IT in draft agreement will commit policy makers to seek
technical solutions to reducing emissions

IT should be seen as key to reducing emissions in any successor to the Kyoto
Protocol agreed in Copenhagen this December, according to the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The body ? which is an agency of the UN ?says specific mention of the
critical role of information and communication technology in the Copenhagen
draft agreement will help commit policy makers around the world to seeking
technical solutions to reducing emissions.

"Since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997, the number of ICT
users has tripled worldwide, yet ICTs find no mention in the current draft
agreement," the union said in a statement.

"If the ingenuity of technological innovation has inadvertently created
environmental damage, the ITU believes the same drive to innovate can be
harnessed through ICTs to reduce carbon footprint across all industry sectors."

A recent study estimated that more effective use of ICTs could help reduce
total global emissions by 15 per cent by 2020, representing carbon savings five
times higher than the estimated emissions for the whole ICT sector in 2020.

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) estimates that these reductions
could deliver energy efficiency savings to global businesses of over ?500bn.

The union says smart grids, sustainable networks, energy-efficient
datacentres, teleworking, intelligent cars, smart buildings and energy-efficient
workspaces will all be key in reducing emissions.

And intelligent transport systems such as parking guidance systems, GPS and
RFID-based road pricing schemes can all help reduce journey distances.

And the unions says using satellite monitoring instead of ground-monitoring
for farming needs can reduce CO2 emissions by 97 per cent.

In Africa, the UN has teamed up with mobile phone companies and other
partners to install 5,000 new weather stations to monitor the impact of climate
change, transmitting news immediately to farmers? mobile phones via text
messages.

A study by Gartner in 2007 found IT to be responsible for 2 per cent of
global emissions worldwide.

Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2252305/should-included-copenhagen

Cosmic Log: A Pluto pilgrimage

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: The first thing you notice about Lowell Observatory, the place where Pluto was discovered, is that the little guy gets top billing.

Full story at http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/30/2114995.aspx

7 ghoulish archaeological discoveries

Remember the haunted house in grade-school where your hand was guided into a bowlful of "brains"? Those skinned grapes have nothing on what� scientists have dug up over the years.